LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Roger Hauck, R-Mt. Pleasant, issued the following statement on Wednesday after the Senate voted to approve the upcoming fiscal year budget:
“Much like last year, I had concerns with the one-sided nature of the priorities and the level of overspending.
“Last year, the majority blew through a $9 billion surplus, and we have little to show for it beyond more programs we’ll have to fund in the future. In order to sustain the level of spending sought by the Democrat majority and governor, the budget bills relied on both raiding the teacher pension fund and imposing an income tax hike — which Democrats fought tooth and nail for when a reduction was on the table from a previous law.
“Numerous Republican amendments to reel in the overspending, and even to repurpose some of it to more agreeable initiatives, were scoffed at and immediately voted down. Drastic overspending and one-sided input are not how to produce a responsible, balanced budget.
“I’m disappointed none of the amendments, which included more funding for roads, cancer screenings for veterans, public safety efforts, reducing income taxes by redirecting wasteful spending and corporate giveaways, were adopted.
“The budget plan also creates a new apprenticeship mandate that disregards the skills of Michigan trade workers by requiring workers, regardless of their role, to be enrolled in or have completed a registered apprenticeship program to work on state projects. This unnecessary burden will create a drastic shortage in qualified workers for state projects and excludes a very significant portion of that workforce — which will further inflate costs and drastically impact people’s livelihoods and the economy. I introduced an amendment to remedy this concern, but the Democratic majority voted it down.
“At the end of the day, the priorities just didn’t line up, and I simply couldn’t vote in favor of this unsustainable spending that fails to address the needs of Michigan families and the needs of the state as a whole. The return on investment for this kind of drastic overspending just isn’t there.”
###